The Equator, Gabon

After just over a year into this massive expedition I have reached a huge milestone.
Not far into Gabon, on a highway thick with monster logging trucks, I watch the numbers on my GPS count down to the mighty line on the Earth.

The Jeep, the sign.

For the second time in my life, far, far from home, I drive my Jeep across the Equator, grinning from ear to ear the entire time. While hanging out at the sign I have strong memories of last time I did this in Ecuador. This time I am happy to get the Jeep right on the line.

Dan and Jeep. Equator.

Oh Southern Hemisphere, it’s good to be back!!!
I can not wait to see the Southern Cross at night.

About thirty yards from the sign

Extremely happy to be at the equator

In the back of my mind, I know I will cross again, likely many tens of thousands of miles and more than fifteen countries from now, somewhere on the East Coast.

It was everything we hoped for and more. We did an Un-Cruise Adventures week-long sail through Glacier Bay NP and other incredible fjords the big boats dare not go.

The Jeep is well into the CAD (cardboard aided design:) ) stage of interior fit-up design. Our LJ Rubicon is not as big as your JKUR, and must accommodate two people, so we have even more imperative space economization requirements.

I do not have a build thread on the LJ. Had not really thought about doing one, since so many folks have one. We are incorporating what I think are some unique design details and engineered solutions, so perhaps we could avoid another “me too” build thread. I’ll let you know if I do start one.

The LJ Rubicon is a pretty unique little truck. Only ~12k units in total were made in 2005/2006. The 103″ wheel base is just about right to improve the ride (over the 93″ wheelbase of your old TJ), but does not compromise breakover angle too much. The rear overhang is not as long as the old CJ-8, so departure angle is also still good. I have rock crawled this rig many times, and never encountered an obstacle that a TJ could take that I could not.

I’ll probably do a summary write up of our build after it is done. I hate trying to do an in-progress build documentary.

[…] about where I will be next time I cross the magical line on the ground! You can read more here: The Equator, Gabon | The Road Chose Me .. I also just uploaded the video of National Park Tai from Ivory Coast – this is why I slogged […]

CURRENTLY IN: KenyaAFRICA MILES DRIVEN: 47,025EXPEDITION DAYS: COUNTRIES VISITED: 31
Considering the West Africa route?Checkout my eBook Overland Travel Essentials: West Africa for everything you need to know
The circumnavigation of the continent will take about two years, through roughly 30 countries, and cover +/- 80,000 miles.Read More: Africa Expedition Overview

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Dan is an outdoor adventure kind of guy who believes dreams are meant to be lived.
I've set out to drive my Jeep Wrangler 80,000 miles in a circumnavigation of the African continent. Read the announcement
Here on The Road Chose Me you can read all about my ongoing adventure, see my photos and watch my videos.

You can also read back through my 40,000 mile, 22 month adventure in a Jeep Wrangler through 17 countries from Alaska to Argentina.